Artist fire 1

The blackened square on the right wall outlines where one of Don
Baker’s pieces of art hung. Now, crews work to salvage what they
can and remove destroyed materials.

Randy Metcalf/The Explorer

Artist fire 2

Don Baker, a Northwest artist, and his wife, Annemie, were on a
vacation in Canada when their house and dozens of Don’s works of
art using rust impressions were destroyed in a fire. Fortunately,
this piece depicting a Volkswagen and some others were spared.

Randy Metcalf/The Explorer

Artist fire 3

Don and Annemie Baker walk through what is left of their house
in the wake of a fire that destroyed almost everything they
owned.

Randy Metcalf/The Explorer

Artist fire 4

Don Baker is working to restore some of his works of art that
were blackened by smoke damage, like this one of a bicycle.

Randy Metcalf/The Explorer

Artist fire 5

Don Baker demonstrates how he places metal objects on a canvas
and then treats it with water and time to leave behind a rusted
impression on the canvas.

Artist fire 6

While enjoying a weeklong vacation in Canada, Don and Annemie
Baker had no idea they would be homeless when they returned
home.

With no cell phone service in Canada, the Bakers could not be
informed about the Sept. 14 fire that destroyed their Tucson home.
The seven voicemails left by Golder Ranch Fire District didn’t
display on their cell phone until the couple landed at Sky Harbor
Airport, in Phoenix, on Sept. 21.

“We talked to them on the way back,” Annemie said. “They said
there was a fire, and we thought of maybe the stove or something
small in the kitchen. You just don’t think the whole house is
actually gone.”

The outside of their house didn’t look so bad, thought the
couple upon arriving home. The structure was there, and from a
distance there were no obvious signs that a fire had occurred at
their home, which is located off Oracle Road, north of Oro
Valley.

However, on closer examination, the couple found that windows
had been blown out by the release of pressure built up by smoke,
and the inside of the house had been gutted by flames, smoke and
water damage.

The only rooms left were the sunroom and the master bedroom.

Currently, the couple is renting a home in SaddleBrooke, but
find themselves at their home everyday trying to sort through the
damage.

While the couple didn’t care about replaceable material items,
such as furniture and clothes, Don hung his head sadly as he talked
about his artwork that was destroyed.

With an estimated 25 pieces lost in the flames, Don said it
represented between 12 and 15 years of his life.

“You can’t just replace them,” he said. “Every time you do some
kind of art, it’s different every time.”

Sad for her husband, Annemie said, “It’s like a baby for him. In
this fire he lost all those years, all that art.”

Don specializes in an art form where he uses rustic steel on
canvas. Taking old license plates, a chain, keys, typewriter parts,
or a worn tricycle, he sands down the metal and then places it
strategically on a canvas. He then applies water to the canvas.

The metal sits for weeks and months, depending on how dark he
would like the rust to look on the white canvas. The cycle
continues as he places new pieces inside the art, or rearranges
others to get the design he wants.

Not all of his work is gone. The pieces sitting inside the
garage, otherwise known as Don’s studio, survived the fire.

As sad as Don is over the art he lost, Annemie said she doesn’t
believe her husband would have been as optimistic as he is, had he
lost his beloved studio.

Now, while crews work to gut the main house, examine pieces of
furniture and investigate a cause, Annemie said her husband is
sitting inside his studio from sun up to sundown, working on new
concepts, and mourning the work lost.

The couple also lost priceless family heirlooms, such as
authentic kachina dolls and pots made by various Indian tribes.

Annemie, a former math teacher in New York, said she lost all of
her teaching materials, which meant a lot to her.

While dealing with the emotional aspect of losing a home they
had been living in for nine years, the couple is also experiencing
how tough it is to move forward after a disaster.

The fire was deemed an accident, after investigators found the
ignition point to be in the wall between the guest bedroom and
bathroom. While the exact cause remains “undetermined,” according
to the fire report, investigators said they cannot rule neither
propane or electrical as the main cause.

What is known is that the fire started inside the walls. Fire
officials said by the time a neighbor saw the smoke and phoned in
the call, it was too late to save the home.

Over the last month, Annemie said they have searched through
what’s left, and been asked whether they want to keep or throw out
anything that didn’t burn.

Agents representing the insurance company inventoried
everything, Annemie said, and they weren’t allowed to throw away
even a bucket of half-used nail polish bottles without it being
documented.

Some of these decisions were made in the first days after the
Bakers returned, which both of them say was a mistake.

“You are asked to make so many decisions in the first day,”
Annemie said. “But, you aren’t thinking. You are just trying to get
these difficult moments over with.”

Since the master bedroom wasn’t destroyed, Annemie said the
couple was given a choice to have their clothes fumigated to remove
any smoke. The total cost ended up being $7,000.

Had they been able to think about it, Annemie said they would
have just purchased a new wardrobe at a lesser cost.

Don described moments over the last month, “where I have been
completely overwhelmed.”

“You find out you need a permit to even do a cleanup. You need a
permit to consider restoration, you need a permit for
construction,” he said.

It took a month, but the cleanup crews are on hand, and progress
is being made. But, the Bakers said they are not optimistic on a
timeline after first being told it would take three months, then
six months, and now estimates are well over a year.

No matter what, the couple remain committed to restoring their
home to its original design.